This class focuses on political speeches from Cicero to Obama—but mostlyon speeches drawn from American politics over the past 100 years. The class aims to answer two basic questions: what is a great speech, and what is so great about political speech? It is often said that what distinguishes and elevates human beings among the animals is the capacity for speech: speech, Aristotle argued, is what makes us “political animals.” What is it about speech that is so special? The answer is found not in every sort of utterance, but in a distinctive kind of speech—political speech. Political speech is believed to distinctly reveal (and betray) our freedom and dignity. We will listen to, read, and evaluate a number of speeches, each of which vies for the status of “great speech.” In addition to reading a number of allegedly “great” political speeches, we will also read classic accounts of political rhetoric found in Plato and Aristotle, and some contemporary accounts of political rhetoric.
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